Solum Initium Est, Before the Veilweavers
by Gloryofluv
Summary: Hermione knew she was dead. The Inbetween. What does that mean? Well, lucky for her two marauders were waiting there. Using her new found world, she has grown to love both the setting and quite possibly the pair unwilling to part with the witch. But when she discovers just what Elsewhere is, will she believe that being in love with dead marauders is a life-changing experience?
1. Chapter 1

**_Guys! So I decided to do something odd. This is going to be a prequel to my story Inter Sagnum. Yes, weird as it is, but I thought something was missing from it while I was reading both the first and the incomplete second half. I don't know how long it's going to be, but I do know the storyline. I plan to go back, edit and apply my upgraded skills to the other two stories as well._**

* * *

_Summary: Hermione Granger knew she was dead. The explosion had to have killed her because now she's stuck in Elsewhere. The In-between. What does that mean? Well, lucky for her, two marauders were there to greet her on the other side. Using her new found world, she has grown to love both the setting and quite possibly the pair unwilling to part with the witch. But when she discovers just what Elsewhere is, will she believe that being in love with two dead marauders is a life-changing experience?_

* * *

Her watch read at half past noon. They were late, and that irritated the shit out of her. The tapping of her toe on the concrete was distinct as she breathed deeply and swallowed her angst. Her concept of summer mixed with frustration was causing the humidity to rise, and her curls weren't sitting well. Even the sweat dripping off her plastic cup wasn't enough to soothe her baking skin.

Where were they?

"Shit, Hermione, we're sorry. Sirius had to finish up his rounds, and I was caught up in a book," Remus's voice was loud over the ambient sound of birds.

Hermione glanced over at the approaching man and blew a large puff of air. "Could you have taken any longer? We're going to miss it," she grumbled as she erected off the park bench.

The werewolf was wearing a jersey saying Potter #1 and probably the oddest color pink shorts Hermione's ever seen in her life. "Did you lose a bet?" she asked with a stifled smirk.

Sirius grinned with a motion of agreement. "I bet him that you would chicken out last night when I offered you a place to stay instead of walking home."

Hermione waved him off and took Remus's arm within her own. "How do we get stuck with him even now?"

The werewolf laughed and pressed his lips to her temple. "We love him; that's why."

She turned her face to his and nosed his cheek. "Let's try to get through this installment, shall we?"

Sirius popped up between them and kissed her cheek. "Love, you are by far the prettiest woman I know," he snickered.

"I'm the only woman who's here, Pads," Hermione huffed and pulled away from them, marching off toward the large building.

The marauders shrugged at each other and jogged after the woman who was still clutching her iced drink. It was purple in color but tasted of her favorite tea over ice. It was a perk for being dead. She could wish for everything she wanted, but somehow, it still wasn't living.

The golden doors opened at her arrival, and Fred was standing at the concession counter, digging through the candy. "Ello, Hermione. What's it gonna be today?" He asked with a smirk.

"Chocolate covered strawberries, Champagne and some of that popcorn that tastes like laughter. We're watching James being born," she told him as her hands touched the counter.

Fred waggled his eyebrows and sighed. "A good choice. A bit disappointing that you haven't decided on anything a bit," he paused when the marauders approached. "Naughty," he finished with a toothy smile.

Hermione exhaled and gathered up the items he set on in front of her. "Well, there's no place like home," she grumbled as her cheeks bloomed with color.

Sirius bent over the counter and snagged up some redvines as he pursed his lips at the Weasley. "She still won't share that with us. I'm mortally wounded from it."

Remus shoved the animagus and reached for a large chocolate bar. "Well, if someone would stop asking, she might just do it one of these days."

"Which is why I won't," Hermione snorted and waved at Fred. "Come on; let's go see today's installment."

The theater was small but luxurious. The seats were couches and tons of tables to set the food items on. The screen was at least four stories tall and placed in the highest definition her memory could retain. Fred collapsed on a couch in front of them, while several others shuffled into the room. Severus Snape sat by himself to the left. The Longbottoms sat with a little boy Hermione knew as a child that died from a car accident. Several muggles… the theater was soon packed with people Hermione once knew.

The lights blinked and the show started. "Brought to you by the safest place in Elsewhere, the in-between," a female announce said smoothly as the screen flickered.

Somehow between all the oddities and weirdness, this was starting to feel normal. The scene was Ginny being rushed through a fireplace; Hermione's hands were gripping the woman as Harry was shouting in surprise in the background. The woman tugged both the Marauders to her, and they rested against her shoulder as they got to observe first hand, James Sirius Potter's birthday from Hermione's perspective.

Death was kind. At least they were here with her.

* * *

Hermione was still sipping on the bottle, like a silly lush as they walked along the vast beach. Nowhere in the Atlantic was a beach this pristine, but Hermione always wanted to visit Greece. Even after the war, she wanted to sip on a drink and enjoy the sun on her skin. The sunset waited for her to decide when she wanted stars- Hermione had absolute control over her environment she discovered. At least the appearance and textures. The people were a different story entirely.

"How lovely, if I could paint, I would choose this scene," Remus sighed from behind her.

The woman laughed and threw her hands in the air; the bottle was sloshing about in protest. "Couldn't we live here forever, Moony? I wouldn't mind as long as Harry and Gin meet me here when they're through," she huffed and landed in the sand with a giggle.

Sirius had made himself occupied by chasing giant parrots down at the water as a dog. Hermione sat up enough to watch the dog sprinting like a puppy after the singing birds as they danced in a circle before flying off in fits of color.

The werewolf stole the bottle from her hand and sipped from it. "I do miss life at times. I miss the feeling of my son holding my fingers. I miss the imperfect smell of an old book. Those things we can't replicate in our minds, they exist only to experience," he voiced before sipping the bottle.

Hermione rocked her head and slumped over his lap. "I most certainly miss those things. Tell me, does it get any easier?" she questioned with a pout.

Remus stroked her hair and exhaled. "No, it doesn't. But we still have each other. That's what matters."

"What about Tonks?" Hermione inquired as she scowled up at him.

Remus's despair was displayed in his expression. "She's not here. I looked. Where ever she is, I hope she's happy. That's all we can hope for."

Hermione reached up and touched his cheek. "If it's my fault, I'm sorry. I loved you both and knew I wouldn't be able to do this without you. The astute nature of my former professor and Sirius with his need for laughter. It was the only thing I could think of that would fill this space with joy."

The werewolf continued to stroke her hair and made a soothing sound through his lips. "Now, don't you worry about me. I'm quite content with that arsehole over there and your company."

"You promise me? Promise that you'd tell me if you needed to go so you could find her?"

"I promise, but this life, the after bit, it's only the beginning, Hermione. We have so much time. Why should we waste what joy we are given?"

Their tender moment was interrupted when the floppy dog launched himself on the woman and started licking her face. "Okay, okay! I'm not sad!" Hermione shouted through the assault.

Sirius appeared next to her and laughed. "Well, that was easy."

"You're a bloody wanker," Hermione spat as she rubbed her face.

"I know, but you love me," Sirius retorted with a grin.

The woman's eyes trailed upward as she expelled a deep breath. "I do. I love you both quite furiously."

The sky was blending to night finally as the sun dropped below the horizon. However, the green light flashing overhead seemed so out of place. She didn't produce that. Her thoughts were interrupted as Remus shifted. It drew her pondering from the odd light and back to the marauders.

"Dinner and then swimming on the roof?" Remus asked.

"Yes, that sounds like a good night," Hermione said as she sat up.

The woman snaked the bottle from the werewolf and climbed from the sand. Sirius helped Remus up, and they all wandered back toward the city. The lights were glowing, and it was as welcoming as ever — their home in Elsewhere.


	2. Chapter 2

The sounds were always muffled at first. She would be dreaming of something- books, days at Hogwarts, nights at the Burrow and it would start subtly. It was intrusive, and soon everything would stop in her dream, causing her to climb next to a door or wall to listen. The sound of voices through a muffled conversation- something farther from the barrier were heard.

Sometimes she would catch distinct words. _Harry. Mum. Teddy. Ron. _Even on occasion, there would be sounds of crying. What type of death tortures you when you're waiting in between? What unfinished business did she have that her dreams would be pushed from delightfully quiet, too painful?

The woman, for what was a witch with absolute power, would throw herself away in tears. She missed them. Oh, how her heart pined for them! It was on this particular day when the clouds reflected her mood, that she stood at the window of her twenty-second floor flat and gazed out at her new universe.

It started with a simple concept. She needed a place to absorb what happened. That was down in the square, where she sat under a large willow tree and sobbed about her death — whispering unfinished goals. Speaking to the bark about her unwritten love story. That was when the Marauders showed up. Everything bloomed when they gently guided her into the hands of her death.

Remus was careful. He never mentioned death or dying. Not even about his own, which was tragic even for her to think about. This unspoken rule developed where they wouldn't speak about it unless they must. They helped her create this world, filling it with things she'd never seen or weren't physically possible on the other side. That was her way of building the bridge to acceptance.

Sirius, however, enjoyed her company immensely. It was typical for the animagus the first few nights of her stay to poke and annoy Hermione about what she always wanted to do, what she had done. What would be the cherry on top of Elsewhere? Their friendship was kind and lighthearted- something the woman desperately needed in the hours that followed her into the in-between.

This situation with her dreams was only increasing. Hermione checked the calendar she created and marked off the date. Nine months. Such a long time to be waiting to see what was next and longing to follow the others when they would leave her theater and head to the next. For now, it was just her and the marauders on her endless island.

The knock at the door wasn't surprising. The rain was heavy as her heart sang a song it hadn't in months. She missed home. "Come in," Hermione murmured as she sat down on the large sofa at the window.

"Love, are you alright?" Sirius questioned as the heavy footfalls stopped behind her.

"I miss them today, Sirius. I had another dream," Hermione sighed and pulled at the couch, causing the fabric to draw from it and stretch to create a blanket.

"Can I do anything for you?"

Hermione nodded and glanced up at the uneasy marauder. "Hold me?"

Sirius jumped over the sofa back and plopped next to her, yanking the woman to his form. "Oh, you just about kill me, Hermione. We have eternity, and you decide to cry about the past," he sighed as she sniffled against his chest.

"I miss them, Pads. I miss drinking wine with Ginny and laughing with Harry. Small, inconsequential things. I long for love and children and all the things I will never have with Ronald. I heard the whispering again last night."

He kissed her hair and exhaled. "You want kids; we can have them by the litter. All you have to do is think it and we can. I don't mind if you want to grow old and weak after a hundred years and we create a whole world for them," Sirius suggested.

Hermione yanked from him and glared. "It isn't real. None of it would be real, Sirius. Even your love for me couldn't be. You didn't feel that way in life and certainly not," she couldn't finish her lecture because the animagus kissed her lips.

It was tender and sweet, melding with the passions of her broken heart. Hermione didn't realize just how much she desired to kiss him again until that moment. The mistletoe held nothing to the bold but gentle hands of his as Sirius caressed her cheeks and continued with the coupling with fervor.

They parted, and Sirius pressed his forehead to hers. "I love you, Hermione. There's no complications here that would keep me from telling you. In a different life, one where you were there from the beginning, and I wasn't godfather to your best friend; I would have told you the very instant I met you. Your heart, your mind, your very soul enchants me, and I've waited so long here in Elsewhere just to declare my undying love for you."

The sun was shining through the clouds and rainbows started to appear through the small showers as Hermione blinked at the marauder. His confession was one she wasn't expecting. "You do?" was all she could think to ask.

Sirius glanced at the door and waved at the silent observer. "Come on over, Moony. We were just talking about love."

Remus chuckled and strolled over to the pair while scratching his chin. "Love is such an interesting concept when life isn't in the way. None of the past matters because all we have in Elsewhere is today."

The woman tossed her long curly hair from her shoulders and pulled away from the animagus as Remus sat down. "Is that why you both are here? Had I not realized it was under your own fruition," Hermione stopped as the werewolf took her hand.

"Hermione, did you ever ask yourself that maybe we weren't in Elsewhere before you got here? All I remember is waking up on the barren beach of an island. Sirius was next to me, and we followed the thrum of warmth straight to your tree. Everything before Elsewhere didn't matter. It's blank. The moment you needed us, we became us again," he paused as her brow pinched. "It's not a trick or odd happenstance; it's what we needed as well. Some part of us was just waiting for you. Now we're living in your world, together. Of course, we love you."

Her bottom lip disappeared into her mouth. "You fancy me?"

Remus's smirk turned crooked as he shifted his head from side to side while his eyes traced the ceiling. "It's a bit difficult not to, Hermione. We've spent an abundance of time discovering what moves you and what your soul desires. To know someone intimately who sparks the same flame as any passionate creature, would cause droves of men to fall to their knees in prayer."

She laughed despite the heat building in her cheeks. "That was eloquently spoken, Remus."

"So what do you say, love? Care to indulge a couple of dead marauders?" Sirius asked as his chin tucked over her shoulder.

Her form stiffened as she craned her neck enough to eye him. "Both?"

Remus squeezed her fingers to draw her attention. "Both. It can't be any other way. You love us, and we most certainly love you. Spend your hours of eternity with us? Stop fretting about the past- we promise to make the most of Elsewhere."

"You know I love you, Remus," Hermione sighed as her thumb ran over his knuckles. "But how is this real?"

"It's only real if you believe it is, love. That's the surefire way that it will happen," Sirius insisted.

"Well, I'm not going to be easy, Sirius. I demand dates and dinners, and," she was halted on her tangent when the werewolf bent to her and kissed her lips.

She could get used to ending arguments this way. Her eyebrow arched as Remus cupped her face and efficiently banished her trepidation. This was going to be a decorative element added to the concept of forever- Hermione knew that even more when Sirius stroked her hair and nuzzled her neck. Yes, there would be another perk added to the in-between, and this one she would relish.

* * *

Something profound happened in all of the build-up to their confession. With it, all of her pining and sadness dissipated as Hermione was finding out how delightful it was to date the marauders. The woman stopped counting days on the calendar. There was no reason for them to live in the building down the way, so she created another floor to her flat, with a library big enough to fill every book she'd ever wanted to read.

There was no shagging, at least not the many days they spent together. Most of it was filled with heated kisses, swimming on the roof, or practicing surfing in the ocean. Things that made relationships fun- things she never had in life.

Nights were filled with stories from the marauders. Hogwarts mischief. Confessions of their childhoods. All the individual pieces of a soul that it sheds when it moves on from one life to the next. They offered them freely and without a doubt — the intimacy of lives blending to make love last and worth every second.

It wasn't until one evening where they all were in their large bed, that Hermione blinked in surprise. This was their love story. It may have waited until she died, but she at least would get one. That was the very evening that everything changed. The woman wanted it to continue, and she suddenly desired to have the very human, quite alive feeling of lust tint her feelings. That was the night she would indeed start the affair of a lifetime.

"It's time?" Sirius asked while bouncing his eyebrows- his eyes glinted in the low light.

Hermione nodded as she sat up from the pillows. "Yes, it's time, my marauders."

"Thank Merlin," Remus huffed and nearly launched himself at her, licking and nipping at her neck.

The woman was soon enveloped in soft touches and nibbling. Her clothes soon stripped from her body, and the build of pressure in her abdomen made her feel alive again. This was as close to Heaven as it possibly could be. They were her perfect paradise.

* * *

**Two years later…**

Hermione groaned and stretched as sleep crawled away from her mind. The warmth of her husbands was more than enough to keep her in bed, but she could hear the soft murmuring coming from the other room.

"It's your turn, love," Sirius grumbled.

Remus pulled the woman closer to his form and nosed her bare shoulder. "Pads, go get him while I wake her up the right way," he grumbled, and his lips lazily drifted over her skin.

Hermione twisted in his grip and touched the soft speckled beard on Remus's face. "I promised him if we had alone time last night I would take care of Corvus in the morning," she whispered before kissing his cheek.

Remus's hand trailed her naked skin down to her slightly distended stomach. "You should be babied, not the arsehole over there."

"I did that when she had Corvus, your turn, ya shit," Sirius huffed and tucked an arm around Hermione's body. "I have always doted on this magnificent goddess."

"Now, boys, no fighting. We have plenty of time for that after tea," Hermione snickered and stretched from their grasp. "I'm going to go make breakfast, don't take too long to wake up, my loves."

She pulled on a pair of sweats and one of their t-shirts before blowing kisses at the sleepy pair and leaving the room. Their flat was a mansion. Hermione spent tons of time while she was pregnant with Sirius's son perfecting their living quarters. That was the plan, for them to live out their days, watching their children grow up.

The child's bedroom was the perfect blend of love and Sirius. Hermione painted the walls with scenes from Hogwarts and placed objects from Sirius's childhood he loved around the room. Model cars he snuck from James's house. Tons of music from then all on vinyl records. It was everything a child of theirs could want, down to the large bookcase.

"My love, are you ready to greet the day," Hermione sighed as she approached the child in bed.

"Dis brekfist?" He questioned with a tilt of his black curly hair.

Hermione huffed and lifted the boy from his toddler bed. "Oh, spawn of Black, you're getting heavy."

They walked through the home while the boy yammered on about dreams and other small tidbits. He was perfect. Their blend of perfect. When they walked down the staircase and into the central portion of the flat, Hermione could smell the aroma of breakfast already cooking on the stovetop. Another fantastic day in their world.

She set the boy down in his seat and began to pull plates from the cabinet. "Shall we go camping today? We can fish in the lake and collect pretty stones," Hermione offered as she pulled out the utensils.

"Yeah!" the boy shouted while clapping.

"Hermione," a feminine voice said.

It sounded like it was coming from the living room, and the woman scowled. Corvus glanced in the direction before freezing mid-motion. Hermione walked into the living room, still trying to figure out who was there. No one visited her portion of Elsewhere. It was hers.

"I know it's been a while, but I have a hard time doing this," the voice was so familiar as Hermione walked toward the door.

Her hand shook as she reached for the knob and heard sniffling. "I wish you were here," the voice whimpered.

Hermione gripped her courage as she opened the barrier and saw darkness. When she stepped out into the hallway, she felt gobsmacked at the scene in front of her. The woman was standing in St. Mungo's and there in front of her was Ginny, gripping someone's hand tightly.

When Hermione lifted her left hand, she felt the pressure of the redhead's fingers on her palm.

"I love you, and I promised you would be the first one I would tell. Harry and I are going to have another baby. I know you hope it's a girl, but I kind of hope it's a boy," Ginny sniveled as she wiped her eyes.

"Ginny," Hermione gasped and walked next to her. "Ginny, I'm here. I'm not dead," Hermione voiced.

"You always did have a better reaction when you weren't lying there, but that's all we've got now," Ginny grumbled and tore her hand away from the resting Hermione.

"Ginny!" Hermione cried as she fell to her knees. "I'm not dead. I'm not dead; I'm right here."

The redhead exhaled and for a moment Hermione thought she saw her on the ground as they made eye contact. "I knew this would be harder than I thought. You probably aren't here anyway. Some library reading all the books you ever wanted to read. If Remus is there with you, tell him Teddy loves him."

"I'm not dead," Hermione repeated, and it was as if it clicked.

She wasn't dead. Elsewhere wasn't the afterlife. The in-between was where she had to go until she either died or woke up… what was she going to do?

"Love?" Sirius's voice came from the open door.

Hermione glanced back, and when she moved to point at the scene in front of her, it was gone… a blank wall. "Sirius, I'm not dead," Hermione whispered.

"What?" He asked as he walked out to meet her.

Hermione pressed her fingers to the cold plaster and exhaled. "I'm in a coma," she voiced.


End file.
